Since Ripple in Stillwater began its investigation of Smith’s YCR nonprofit, along with its sister nonprofit Old Paths Ministry Inc., Dean has had YCR’s treasurer register a complaint with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office regarding my articles, and had one of his lawyers send a three-page letter to the parent company of Minnesota Independent complaining about coverage of his organizations by “some reporters.” The letter is on the YCR website.

H. Douglas Duncan, a Lodi, CA-based lawyer who prepared YCR’s 2009 federal tax returns, claims in his missive to the American Independent News Network that reporters “have engaged in baseless innuendo and supposition” in writing about YCR. “Further, they have drawn unfounded conclusions which imply that investigations and criminal proceedings were both pending and warranted. Neither is the case.”

In a series of articles, Ripple in Stillwater examined the sham ministry trusts under which Smith had his two organizations organized by Glen Stoll of Edmonds, WA, in 2005, as well as the curious Wright County real estate transfers between Smith, Old Paths Church, Old Paths Church Ministries, and Smith’s connections to the Oregon based anti-tax religious cult, Embassy of Heaven.

Bradley Dean Smith declined to comment for those articles.

Duncan defended the use of trusts as “a valid tool utilized by individuals, for profit and not-for-profit organizations,” he wrote. With regard to the sham trusts set up for Smith by Stoll, he claimed that “although the trust structure was legally valid, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International independently determined that the trusts were not in the best interest of the organization, nor were they in the best interest of the organization’s nonprofit purpose.

“In addition,” Duncan continued, “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International independently determined that the information, initially provided by the promoter of the trusts, was false and that the establishment of the trusts were a result (of) fraud and misrepresentation by the promoters. You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, at its own expense, filed a petition with the Tenth Judicial District Court to expose the fraud perpetrated by Glenn Stole (sic) and others.”

What Duncan fails to address is why it took Smith and YCR Secretary Jacob MacAulay more than three years to take legal action to get out of Stoll’s sham ministry trusts. Stoll had been under a permanent federal injunction prohibiting him from promoting or selling his trusts since June 2005—the same time as when he and Smith were doing business.

Stoll ignored the injunction order. The Justice Department sought to have him jailed for contempt in June 2006. Stoll remains in contempt of the 2005 injunction order with at least $50,000 in fines hanging over his head.

Oddly enough, Duncan comments in a footnote to his letter that “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International should be applauded for exposing this type of fraud and misrepresentation. Many other nonprofit organizations, previously defrauded by this scheme, now have a pattern and a court ruling upon which they can rely to assist them in reclaiming full control of the assets of their organization.” He goes on to liken Smith and MacAulay to unfortunate victims of a Ponzi scheme of which they had no knowledge.

Duncan is also careful to note that “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International is current on all tax reports, returns and liabilities. The tax filings by individual employees of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International are current and there are no tax liabilities associated with those returns.”

In his letter, Duncan also defended the salaries of YCR board members and employees, noting that they are “determined by an independent compensation committee in full compliance with” tax laws.

According to YCR’s 2009 IRS Form 990, prepared by Duncan, YCR President Smith was paid $51,303 in compensation and $45,887 in housing allowance last year for a total of $97,190. YCR's Secretary Jacob MacAulay was paid $42,028 in compensation and $24,869 in housing allowance for a total of $66,897 in 2009. Four other “ordained ministers” with the group received a total of $41,555 in housing allowances.

In an obvious attempt to discourage further reporting on his clients, Duncan concludes: “From this point forward any reports stating information contrary to the facts stated above are baseless, inaccurate and will have been published with the full knowledge that the reports are false.” He then signs off “In support of a free (accurate and unbiased) press.”

SMITH RESORTS TO SHERIFF’S COMPLAINTSmith took his book-closing one step further when he had YCR’s treasurer, Heather MacAulay of Annandale—Jacob MacAulay’s wife—register a complaint with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office about information she claimed had appeared on Ripple in Stillwater.

The sheriff’s report said MacAulay was “concerned” that information such as “where they live, what they earn, along with other information,” had appeared on Ripple in Stillwater.

Inexplicably, the report further stated that “Heather said the same information is blogged about Michele Bachmann. Heather said she is uncomfortable with this and that it is uncalled for.”

However, as treasurer for YCR, MacAulay should well know that salary information and addresses of a nonprofit’s property and offices are all a matter of public record. They can be found in public property tax records, IRS Form 990s, the Attorney General’s Office and the Secretary of State’s office. In fact, the MacAulay's home address is listed as the registered corporate office for You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, Inc. in its Articles of Incorporation on file with the Secretary of State's office.

For the record, nothing has appeared on Ripple in Stillwater that can’t be found in public records—and most of it is online.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office sounded unimpressed with MacAulay’s complaint.Bradley Dean Smith was given the opportunity to respond to a whole series of questions about his “ministry” and relationships with anti-tax organizations such as Glen Stoll’s and the Oregon-based Embassy of Heaven. He chose not to.

I'm happy that Smith has finally responded—sort of—through his attorney, to some of my questions. But he really should disabuse himself of the notion that sending his underlings to whine to the cops about public information being disseminated about his controversial little “ministry” is going to stop anyone from looking further into his affairs.

That’s really not “in support of a free press,” as his lawyer

would say. Or much of an “open book,” as Bradley Dean Smith would say.

18 comments:

"I'm happy that Smith has finally responded—sort of—through his attorney, to some of my questions."

I can't remember whether H. Douglas Duncan is representing YCR, Bradley Dean Smith or both in this. Is he newly retained to handle some recent issues?

The letter (nice touch to swear it's true) does attempt to reassure that nothing is out of the ordinary.

Given the material presented in the series here, it seems that Bradley Dean Smith should have known what he was getting when employing Glen Stoll to help manage the financial affairs of this organization.

If Smith had just checked such well known leftwing sites as Free Republic for information on the Embassy of Heaven , it would have been obvious there was some controversy prior to the IRS injunction issued in 2005.

Check the keywords in this link from April 17, 2004. They include "taxevasion" and "whackos".It discusses and links to a press report on the first IRS raid at Dinosaur Adventureland and Kent Hovind's house. Glen Stoll and The Embassy of Heaven are discussed at length in the comments.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1119479/posts

The second is a post from August 20 2003 titled " Embassy of Heaven cult". It is a rather lengthy discussion of the spiritual shortcomings of the cult and it's leaders and members. The post begins:

"There is a new apostasy out there. There is a new cult called the Embassy of Heaven. We know of the common cults, the once that have been around for a while, but I am referring to a cult that mimics Christianity and uses some truth to hide their lies. They claim to be separate but are not at all. They rebel against the government regardless of scripture and they twist scriptures to suit their doctrine which is by no means biblical.".

The particular area of tax compliance and The Embassy of Heaven are also discussed in the post.

"Another practice of members of this cult is not paying taxes. Matthew 22:21. They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Well if the government wants a portion of my money then I will pay it even though I would rather keep it. I do not like taxes.I think they are far too much and the money is used for evil purposes. I hate paying taxes and I support every tax cut that comes down the pike. But the bible tells me to pay them so I do. I can not do the will of God from behind prison bars."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/967380/posts

Of course one man's apostasy is another man's reformation; but had some research been done, such an unfortunate situation such as described by H. Douglas Duncan might have been avoided by Bradley Dean Smith and YCR.

" “In addition,” Duncan continued, “You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International independently determined that the information, initially provided by the promoter of the trusts, was false and that the establishment of the trusts were a result (of) fraud and misrepresentation by the promoters.

Karl, I put an extended comment at Dump Bachmann; so I will be brief with one point.

I read the "shake a lawyer at them" letter posted at the Run-Hide website.

How can this lawyer guy state, "under penalty of perjury," that he has personal knowledge that none of the BD pack or Run-Hide as a business, have any current tax liabilities? He'd have to be a part of every part of their fiscal life to not be making that statement on hearsay.

Also, Karl, can you make any sense out of that footnote 2 on the letter about "promoters" and "Ponzi schemes?" It's incomprehensible to me and he gives no notice I can see in the letter about what in the world he's intending to make clear via that footnote.

Have you seen any publishing about that pack of individuals and their cash cow, saying "Ponzi" with regard to anything they are up to?

Excellent work exposing this.They must be worried when they call in the law.

Do the principals of YCR have a new found trust of the "authority" of the "Kingdom of Darkness"? Perhaps that citizenship in the "Kingdom of Heaven" has been renounced by B.D. Smith.

When did this renta expert (providing the sworn on penalty of perjury opinion!?) begin his association with YCR? When Stoll was advising? When the legal work to unwind Stoll and Bradley Dean Smith's 'tax planning' was under way? When the "radical media" began to lift the skirts on this tax issue?

The failure to mention the long term association of B.D. Smith with Stoll prior to establishment of the illegitimate trusts is among the items missing from the statement issued.

"You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International independently determined that the information, initially provided by the promoter of the trusts, was false and that the establishment of the trusts were a result (of) fraud and misrepresentation by the promoters. You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, at its own expense, filed a petition with the Tenth Judicial District Court to expose the fraud perpetrated by Glenn Stole (sic) and others."

If B.D. Smith now claims that he was unaware of the background and beliefs of Glen Stoll and the Embassy of Heaven then he must also be claiming an amazing ignorance prior to joining the Embassy of Heaven, and employing Glen Stoll to advise on tax matters.

A little research at such well known radical sites such as Free Republic could have been done. It should have been easy to know what Stoll's tax planning was really about.

Post from August 20, 2003: The apostasy of the cult Embassy of Heaven. Complete with biblical citations and discussion of the varied scams later subject of the restraining order. Found by searching for Embassy of Heaven at Free Republic.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/967380/posts

Post from April 17, 2004: IRS raids business and home of Dr. Dino Kent Hovind. Explicit mention of Glen Stoll. Found by searching for Glen Stoll at Free Republic.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1119479/posts

Post from July 14, 2006- Hovind arrested on Federal charges. Explicit mention of Glen Stoll. Found by searching for Glen Stoll at Free Republic.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1665628/posts?page=254

Ripple in Stillwater

Ripple in Stillwater is the sole creation of Stillwater, Minnesota, writer Karl Bremer. It covers whatever captures the author's muse at the moment. You can reach Ripple in Stillwater at saintcroix-at-aol-dot-com, or you can follow me on Twitter @kdbremer. If you're wondering about the name of this blog, go here.

Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Award Winner

Ripple in Stillwater author Karl Bremer won Second Place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Awards for "Best Use of Public Records."

Followers

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOUR RIGHT-WING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES!

The Madness of Michele Bachmann is now available! Ask your friendly bookstore to order it now, or order yours by clicking on the image above.

OLD BAYOU BLUES BY CAMILE BAUDOIN

Living room music from legendary Radiators guitarist Camile Baudoin, featuring violinist Harry Hardin and guitarist David Doucet (Beausoleil). Available through Louisiana Music Factory, iTunes, and Amazon. Or click on the image above, order direct and get a FREE download @ camilebaudoin.com

BLUE GUITAR HIGHWAY by PAUL METSA

The reelin' and rockin' autobiography of one of Minnesota's most brilliant songwriters. Click on the book cover above to order.

THE BUTANES featuring Willie Walker: LONG TIME THING

The latest release from Twin Cities r&b stalwarts The Butanes, featuring the soulful voice of New Orleans' Willie Walker. Click on image to order yours!